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He said Congress and the White House are now in “the 11th hour and we don’t have a lot more time left.”

“It’s very important in these next couple days to understand we don’t have any more time to engage in symbolic gestures, we don’t have any more time to posture,” he said.

In all, Obama said, the Gang of Six plan amounts to “an approach in which there is shared sacrifice and everybody is giving up something.”

The plan is, he said, “broadly consistent with the approach that I’ve urged: what it says is we’ve got to be serious about reducing discretionary spending, both in domestic spending and defense, we’ve got to be serious about tackling health care spending, and entitlements in a serious way, and we’ve got to have some additional revenue.”

According to a copy of a summary of the Gang of Six plan, the group would impose a two-step legislative process that would first make $500 billion worth of cuts immediately, then create a “fast-track process” that would propose a comprehensive bill aimed at dramatically restructuring tax and spending programs. The plan calls for changes to Social Security to move on a separate track, and establishes an elaborate procedure for considering the deficit reduction measures on the floor.

The $500 billion in cuts would come from a range of sources, including shifting to a new consumer price index to make cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security. The plan would impose statutory spending caps through 2015, freeze congressional pay and sell unused federal property.

To enact a comprehensive deficit plan, the group calls for existing congressional committees to report legislation within six months that would “deliver real deficit savings in entitlement programs over 10 years,” the plan says.

The Senate Finance Committee would be instructed to deliver “real deficit savings” through simplifying the tax code and raising as much as $1 trillion in revenue. It would do this by establishing three tax brackets with rates of 8-12 percent, 14-22 percent and 23-29 percent. It would permanently repeal the $1.7 trillion Alternative Minimum Tax, which was initially enacted to prevent the wealthy from using tax loopholes to avoid paying income tax but has since affected millions of middle-income families. And it calls for establishing a single corporate tax rate, between 23 percent and 29 percent.

The group punts many of the specifics to other committees, which would be asked to find savings in discretionary and mandatory spending. This includes: $80 billion out of Armed Services; $70 billion out of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; $65 billion out of Homeland Security and Government Affairs; $11 billion out of Agriculture; $11 billion out of Commerce; and $6 billion out of Energy and Natural Resources.

The Judiciary Committee would be asked to find savings through medical malpractice reform.

The Gang of Six, which included three Republicans and three Democrats, outlined the plan to 47 senators, including 23 GOP members — a show of bipartisanship that has been lacking recently on the Hill.

“These are six colleagues of ours who span the left to the right,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) after he left the meeting. “It begins to get our country back to fiscal balance."

Imagine if you will, a friend or relative coming to you to co-sign a personal loan, or guarantee an increase on their credit card. Also imagine that friend or relative received that card less than two years prior. Would you guarantee the increase?

Now suppose that person had become violent or dismissive towards you when you warned him that his spending habits were unsustainable and reckless BEFORE the credit line was maxed out. Further understand that this person wants more credit to continue to spend that money- with no apology or acknowledgement that his irresponsibility has created a financial nightmare for his family and business partners. Would you put your family at risk by guaranteeing this sought after increase? Only a fool would answer in the affirmative.

Now consider the fact that the current administration has spent more money than any administration in American history; a total that rivals all the other administrations in total. Spending so draconian that it created an uprising from citizens who’d been content to lead their own lives; make their livings, and focus on their families and personal pursuits. People who’d voted for the Administration because it promised new financial responsibility. The response? Violence, intimidation tactics; targeted government intimidation and fabricated accusations of bigotry and racism. The analogy of an ungrateful friend or family member really starts to make sense, doesn’t it? MIA could reasonable oppose the raising of the national debt ceiling.

Think of the advice you’d give to someone in a similar situation. “No, I won’t loan you anymore money, no I wont co-sign for you; no I won’t enable you further. The best thing for you is to stop spending, accept a lower debt score for two years, and rebuild your credit as you learn how to handle your cash flow” is the responsible advice to offer someone in this situation. It makes sense, it’s an accomplishable goal, and it’s the prudent action to take- in spite of the wails from the errant spender!

Imagine if you will, a friend or relative coming to you to co-sign a personal loan, or guarantee an increase on their credit card. Also imagine that friend or relative received that card less than two years prior. Would you guarantee the increase?

Now suppose that person had become violent or dismissive towards you when you warned him that his spending habits were unsustainable and reckless BEFORE the credit line was maxed out. Further understand that this person wants more credit to continue to spend that money- with no apology or acknowledgement that his irresponsibility has created a financial nightmare for his family and business partners. Would you put your family at risk by guaranteeing this sought after increase? Only a fool would answer in the affirmative.

Now consider the fact that the current administration has spent more money than any administration in American history; a total that rivals all the other administrations in total. Spending so draconian that it created an uprising from citizens who’d been content to lead their own lives; make their livings, and focus on their families and personal pursuits. People who’d voted for the Administration because it promised new financial responsibility. The response? Violence, intimidation tactics; targeted government intimidation and fabricated accusations of bigotry and racism. The analogy of an ungrateful friend or family member really starts to make sense, doesn’t it? MIA could reasonable oppose the raising of the national debt ceiling.

Think of the advice you’d give to someone in a similar situation. “No, I won’t loan you anymore money, no I wont co-sign for you; no I won’t enable you further. The best thing for you is to stop spending, accept a lower debt score for two years, and rebuild your credit as you learn how to handle your cash flow” is the responsible advice to offer someone in this situation. It makes sense, it’s an accomplishable goal, and it’s the prudent action to take- in spite of the wails from the errant spender!

What a joke Obama continues to be. The following is from an article at CNN . . .""The crisis, though, is not the debt limit nor its deadline.... (it's the) refusal to make hard choices and reduce a debt that has become our nation's greatest national security threat." "Until the debt ceiling is raised, uncertainty over the payment of U.S. debts will create chaos in financial markets".This is just another lie by Obama and his fearmongers. Given that the Constitution mandates U.S. debts be paid before any other spending and that sufficient money will be available to cover our interest payments, the only uncertainty arises from Obama's actions. Will he try not to pay the interest? Even a delay of a day in paying this interest will create a default. Court action could eventually force Obama to follow the Constitution but a default would have already occurred. But there is a simple way to end this uncertainty: have the president declare now that he will indeed follow the Constitution and make those payments. As always you can contact me at work http://www.bestmichiganbusines... and yes keep those jokes coming. Obama's campaign slogan for 2012 "I suck but Bush was worse" "Equal distribution of wealth?" It would only work if there were an equal distribution of brains and good intentions. Never going to happen. The closest we could get would be to Tax the Democrats and give the money to the Republicans.

Ah yes. The reflexive Obama-bashing post that has entirely nothing to do with the content of the article. I'm extra confident about the future of reasoned discourse in the age of the internet! Well, if nothing else the Politico forums provide a fertile ground for exploring logical fallacies and cognitive biases.

This could be a good thing. I have read the condensed Gang of Six proposal. It is not what I would do, but it appears to be a responsible compromise. There are, I think, 500 billion dollars in real cuts this year. If Coburn is for it, it is probably about the best we can hope for. Of course, there is a possibility that there is something bad hidden in it. It seems like Obama may be willing to sign it.

Never has a foreign enemy, not Hitler, not Japan, not Vietnam, not North Korea except for the six trillion dollar man, Osama Bin Laden, threatened the full faith and credit of this Republic until the New Taliban, the Republican Party, put the barrel of a gun to the temple of the United States and menaced us with economic destruction as the form of blackmail to forge economic policy. The shameless domestic enemy has committed treason under the Fourteenth Amendment of a fragile constitution.

The attack of 9/11 cost us the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and partial wars in Libya and Pakistan plus the largest bureaucracy ever formed by man, the Department of Homeland Security and the massive ancillary costs of law enforcement liaisons all over the country.

Now whether the GOP fails or succeeds in the debt ceiling blackmail, the fact remains that they knowingly and intentionally threatened the life of the Republic in an existential way to get their way on one budget. If they do not raise the debt ceiling, raised seven times under Bush, their recalcitrance on budget issues becomes irrelevant to the budget of an empty treasury.

To defend this traitorous behavior even if the trigger is not pulled is to ask: “what if the 9/11 terrorists would have failed?”

Treason is defined as an act that aids or abets the enemies of the United States or betrays it national trust. J’ACCUSE.

What kind of reporting is this. This report shouts that the president has commented that he is favorably disposed about a plan being put forth by the revived Gang of Six in the Senate as a responsible and balanced approach to solving the stalemate over the debt issue, but never once in the article presents what that plan is. I seen better reporting on the walls of the White House rest rooms used by the press.

As long as Obama is the president, this country will be a failure, sliding into the abyss of African socialism. Obama may be in this country, but he is not of this country. He is making us all slaves on the HIS planation which he calls --USA.

It's all generic drivel with few specifics. Gee I wonder why Obama loves it. Chained CPI so we can let seniors have it, rotten seniors, why won't they die and save us some money. I love the part about enact concrete policy changes that lock in additional savings. Wow. DC speak for BS.

What kind of reporting is this. This report shouts that the president has commented that he is favorably disposed about a plan being put forth by the revived Gang of Six in the Senate as a responsible and balanced approach to solving the stalemate over the debt issue, but never once in the article presents what that plan is. I seen better reporting on the walls of the White House rest rooms used by the press.

As long as Obama is the president, this country will be a failure, sliding into the abyss of African socialism. Obama may be in this country, but he is not of this country. He is making us all slaves on the HIS planation which he calls --USA.